For the past year, the September 11th Commission has met to examine
the facts surrounding the terrorist attack on our nation. I look
forward to the commission's report, and I expect it to contain
important recommendations for preventing future attacks.

One lesson the nation has already learned is that law enforcement
and intelligence personnel must be allowed to share more information,
so that we can better pursue terrorists inside the United States. In
the weeks after September the 11th, Congress made essential reforms by
passing the USA Patriot Act. That vital legislation gained
overwhelming bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, and
passed the Senate by a vote of 98 to one.

The Patriot Act tore down the artificial wall between the FBI and
CIA, and enhanced their ability to share the information needed to hunt
terrorists. The Patriot Act also marked a major shift in law
enforcement priorities. We are no longer emphasizing only the
investigation of past crimes, but also the prevention of future
attacks. Because we passed the Patriot Act, FBI agents can better
conduct electronic surveillance and wiretaps on suspected terrorists.
And they now can apply other essential tools -- many of which have
long been used to investigate white-collar criminals and drug
traffickers -- to stop terrorist attacks on our homeland.

Our government's first duty is to protect the American people. The
Patriot Act fulfills that duty in a way that is fully consistent with
constitutional protections. In making America safer, it has helped us
defend our liberty. Since I signed the Patriot Act into law, federal
investigators have disrupted terror cells in at least six American
cities. And since September the 11th, the Department of Justice has
charged over 300 persons in terrorism-related investigations. So far,
more than half of those individuals have been convicted or pled
guilty.

Key elements of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year. Some
politicians in Washington act as if the threat to America will also
expire on that schedule. Yet we have seen what the terrorists intend
for us, in deadly attacks from Bali to Mombassa to Madrid. And we will
not forget the lessons of September the 11th. To abandon the Patriot
Act would deprive law enforcement and intelligence officers of needed
tools in the war on terror, and demonstrate willful blindness to a
continuing threat.

Next week I will travel to Hershey, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New
York to meet with the law enforcement officers who see the importance
of the Patriot Act in their daily duties. They know we must not let
down our guard. The war on terror will be won on the offensive, so
Congress must renew the Patriot Act.

Every hour of the day, America depends on the work of vigilant law
enforcement and intelligence personnel. These men and women have
difficult and dangerous jobs -- and they are performing superbly. In
their mission of security, they are joined by members of the armed
forces, who are taking the fight to our enemies overseas. The American
people are grateful to all who defend us -- and we will continue to
give them every tool and resource they need to keep America safe.